Basket
Name/Title
BasketEntry/Object ID
L2024.3.105Description
Open-work, ash splint basket. Varying width splints alternating blue dyed and natural. Square base with round top. Slightly Vasiform.Context
This basket is the archetype of the late 1800’s Vermont Abenaki basket. It is classed as an “open work basket,” and is the most commonly found basket with good Vermont Native provenance, although this one’s origin is a bit less secure. Although it is now missing the two loop handles, the rest of it is in great shape. One thing that is interesting is that the dye is not just on the outside, like other work baskets such as L2024.3.103, but it also stains the inside of the splints, as can be seen in the illustration. One of the defining separations between 19th and 20th century baskets is the fact that 20th century splints were submerged in the dye which stains both sides. This may be a transitional basket using a dark, non-fugitive pigment like earlier baskets, while dipping rather than daubing on the dye -- like later basketry examples.Acquisition
Source (if not Accessioned)
Abenaki Cultural ConservancyMade/Created
Date made
circa 1880Place
State/Province
VermontCountry
United States of AmericaContinent
North AmericaEthnography
Culture/Tribe
Abenaki
Native American